Fri, 11 Oct 2002, 01:51 PM Top Alcohol Funny Car Qualifying Notes, Session #1

By Dave Rowe

ENNIS, Texas - Notes from round 1 qualifying in Top Alcohol Funny Car at the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series, 17th annual O'Reilly Fall Nationals presented by Castrol Syntec listing lane, driver name, elapsed time, top speed, and position in order following run:

---

Left Lane: Bob Newberry Runs 5.716/251.25, Now #2
Right Lane: Von Smith Runs 5.644/254.95, Now #1

11:44 AM The temp is 62 degrees, 76 percent humidity, the barometer is at 30.16 and the track temp is 83 degrees.

Smith is the division two champ for 2002 by just six points over Jay Payne. He makes a pretty good looking run here and sets the early mark. Newberry was bouncing around a little right off the line but still makes a good pass.

---

Left Lane: John Patton Runs 5.847/248.41, Now #3
Right Lane: Steve Griboski Runs 6.006/237.09, Now #4

Patton comes off the line,starts shaking the tires and gets out of the groove. He moves around until about half-track and finally gets it straightened out.

---

Left Lane: Steve Harker Runs 12.012/67.61, Now #6
Right Lane: Jimmy Jones Runs 5.986/241.80, Now #4

Harker comes off the line, shakes the tires hard and has to abort the run. Jones made a good pass, right down the groove.

---

Left Lane: Dennis Taylor Runs 9.043/86.46, Now #7
Right Lane: Kirk Williams Runs 5.768/251.25, Now #3

Taylor gets about sixty feet out, shakes the tires hard and has to shut down. Williams shakes a little right off the line but drives through it for a good run.

---

Left Lane: Marc White Runs 5.749/249.58, Now #3
Right Lane: Todd Simpson Runs 5.872/243.04, Now #6

A couple of good looking runs, both right down the groove.

---

Left Lane: Mert Littlefield Runs 5.860/235.41, Now #6
Right Lane: Jay Payne Runs 8.910/100.32, Now #10

Payne shook the tires, skated out of the groove, headed for the wall and he shuts down. Littlefield makes a decent pass and is the top half of the field for now.

---

Left Lane: Vern Moats Runs 5.824/233.58, Now #6
Right Lane: Tate Branch Runs 5.776/246.64, Now #5

Branch was skating around all over the track, never lifts and makes a decent pass. Moats went right down the groove and falls in right behind in the sixth spot.

---

Left Lane: Jason Rupert Runs 6.028/244.83, Now #12
Right Lane: Cy Chesterman No Time, Now #16

Chesterman hits the throttle, gets about ten feet out and the engine goes silent. Rupert got about 100 feet out and started shaking the tires. He pedals once and goes on through for a decent pass.

---

Left Lane: Bob Alberty Runs 6.638/230.59, Now #14
Right Lane: Thomas Frickenschmidt Runs 6.165/228.94, Now #13

Alberty never stopped rolling when he staged. He gets about sixty feet out, starts shaking the tires and moving around.

---

Left Lane: Jackie Stidham Runs 5.800/246.91, Now #6
Right Lane: Bernie Harrington Runs 6.041/225.11, Now #14

Stidham shook the tires early and starting bouncing around. He gets it under control and is in the top half of the field for now. Harrington got out of the groove around half-track and moved around the rest of the run.

---

Left Lane: Steve Gasparrelli Runs 5.671/254.02, Now #2

Gasparrelli shakes the tires early, drives through it and makes a decent pass to get in the two spot for now.

---

Left Lane: Kebin Kinsley Runs 6.049/231.48, Now #16

Kinsley was on a decent pass until half-track, he gets out of the groove and veers toward the wall. It looked like he put a couple of holes out at that point and he leaves an oil deposit on the track.

That ends the first session with Smith on the pole and Kinsley on the bump with a 6.049.

Timing data courtesy of CompuLink

NHRA: 10 Most Recent Entries [ top ]

Oct 17- DALLAS - Competition Eliminator Round 3 Eliminations
Oct 17- DALLAS - Top Sportsman Round 3 Eliminations
Oct 17- DALLAS - Junior Dragster Shootout Round 1 Eliminations
Oct 17- DALLAS - Outlaw Street Final Qualifying, Session #2 Order
Oct 17- DALLAS - Saturday Video
Oct 17- DALLAS - Junior Dragster Shootout Eliminations Ladder
Oct 17- DALLAS - Junior Dragster Shootout Final Qualifying, Session #2 Order
Oct 17- DALLAS - Super Gas Round 5 Eliminations
Oct 17- DALLAS - Super Stock Round 5 Eliminations
Oct 17- DALLAS - Super Comp Round 5 Eliminations